A Reverse Tail
by Claire-Aegis-Faust
Summary: After Mako Island is breeched by humans, three young mermen are tasked with protecting it from any further incidents. When not one, but four human girls enter the Moon Pool, the boys must find a way to reserve what happened within 6 full moons or face death. With unknown forces lurking in the seas, will they be able to make things right, or will something else befall them all?


**Aegis: Hi everyone! Nothing has happened to Karen, it's still me, I'm just going through another name change as some of you may know. Now I know it's been a long time since I've published stuff but that's because I've got a lot to work on and I actually have a job now! YAY! But even so... onto the important thing, this story!**

** never thought I would work up the courage to finally publish this! It's been sitting here for over four months now and I've decided to publish it! Back when I was mid-way through In Trouble Once Again, an idea struck me. What would it be like, if Zac was born a merman, along with Cam and David, and Nixie, Sirena and Lyla were just regular human girls. This is my take on Mako Mermaids, a tiny little bit AU as normal, and there is a tiny winy bit of Canon at the start, but not much!**

**Zac: This is really different for you isn't it? I mean, will everyone sort of keep the same characterisation?**

**Aegis: I'm trying to keep it as close as I can, without making the switched roles too similar. As for disclaimer and claimer, I don't own Mako Mermaids nor any of the characters in the show, but I do own the fact that I came up with the idea for this story and a couple of OC's that appear. And on a side note, this does involve some season 2 stuff, along with the appearance of a few characters ;)**

**I just hope that you all enjoy it!**

* * *

**A reverse tail**

**Chapter 1: **

It was another beautiful morning right across the Gold Coast, the early morning sun beams danced on the surface of the lively waves that collided with the shoreline. A few kilometres north from the main beach is a rather secluded and unknown section of canal, and within it stands the house of three sisters: Lyla, Nixie and Sirena, and their mother Lillia. The three of them were as inseparable as they were daring and ambitious; if they had an adventure planned, nothing was going to stop them from going. Their challenges accomplished already at the age of 16 were impressive indeed, but there was still one thing that eluded their long list of triumphs, and that was to camp for one night on Mako Island.

Lyla began to stir as she heard her annoying alarm clock go off. She stumbled out of her bed to walk across to the other side of the room and turn it off, letting out a rather long yawn as she stretched. The next thing she did was wake up Sirena.

"Sirena," Lyla cooed to her, giving her a quick shake on the shoulder. Soon after, Sirena sat up, letting out her own yawn and stretching her arms.

"Good morning Lyla," Sirena greeted, still sounding a little bit groggy. Lyla gave her a smile and turned to face the bed in the middle of the room, only to find that it was empty.

"Nixie must have spent the night in the outhouse," Lyla said to herself, noticing the immediate absence of her other sister. Besides their main house, there was also a small bungalow like accommodation that the three called 'The Outhouse.' It accommodated three other beds in case the girls didn't feel like sleeping in their room. She threw on her dressing gown and headed downstairs. Unlocking the side door, she headed over to the Shed across from the house and began banging on the door. "Nixie! Nixie are you awake?"

"Hang on will ya?" A voice called back from within the outhouse. A few seconds later, Nixie appeared, looking almost as pale as a ghost. "What?"

"How come you spent the night in here instead of in the house? Something on your mind?" Lyla asked, actually a little concerned. Nixie didn't usually come sleep here unless something wasn't right.

"Yes... today's trip," Nixie replied bluntly, letting Lyla inside. Second later, Sirena appeared, joining in the conversation.

Nixie gave herself a few seconds to gather her words. "Look, I don't think this trip to Mako is a good idea any more."

"Why not?" Sirena asked, with a worried tone in her voice. "You've been looking forward to this trip for the past three weeks and suddenly on the day we're supposed to be going, you think it's a bad idea. Why?"

"I've just- just been having this weird feeling, like a sixth sense, that something is going to go wrong if we go there," Nixie eventually replied.

"Nixie what could go wrong? We've been to stranger places," Lyla pointed out.

"But unlike some places, Mako Island isn't as frequently visited," Nixie fought back. "It's not like we have any idea of the terrain of the Island, because no-one has ever gone out there to study it all then come back."

Lyla let out a sigh. "It'll still be fine."

"Lyla's right Nixie," Sirena said putting a hand to her shoulder. "We've done stranger things than visit an Island, what could possibly go wrong huh?"

Nixie didn't take too long to think of a reply. "Dangerous creatures we don't know about that could kill us."

"Ugh, I highly doubt there are many creatures living on that Island. Besides birds and general bugs at least," Lyla replied. "If you don't want to come with us then fine, don't come, scaredy cat."

Nixie shot Lyla a disgusted look. "Did you just call me scaredy cat?" She asked in disbelief. "Alright fine I'll come with. But it something dangerous happens then it's not of my head."

"Yes, thank you Nixie," Sirena said giving her sister a quick hug. She stood up from her place on the floor and pulled Nixie up with her. "Come on, let's get some breakfast."

* * *

**\- Just after lunch -**

The girls were now busy making their final preparations for their journey out to Mako Island. About halfway through, Lyla got a text. As she was reading it, Nixie could just tell from her expression what it was about.

"Jason wanting to meet you at the Ocean Cafe perhaps?" Nixie asked, knowing she'd be right.

"Maybe," Lyla said, her body wavering from side to side, a sure giveaway that it was Jason.

"If he wants to meet you then go see him, we can handle the rest of the packing," Sirena spoke up. She then turned her head to Nixie. "Can't we Nixie?"

"What?" Nixie asked in disbelief. Sirena could be too nice to Lyla sometimes. A sigh followed as she tried not to let her annoyance get the better of her. "Yes, we'll be fine. You go see your boyfriend."

"Thank you," Lyla replied with a huge grin on her face, grabbing her bag and her keys before she left.

After she left the room, Nixie had to confront Sirena.

"Are you seriously okay with letting her leave like that? She roped me back into this morning and then you just let her ditch us when we have to do all the work so she can go see her boyfriend?"

"I don't see a problem in doing so," Sirena replied truthfully. "Think about it Nixie, Lyla is always looking after us and taking good care of us. It's only fair that she should be allowed to go see Jason."

"I guess you have a point," Nixie replied, even though she didn't want to admit that Sirena was right.

* * *

**\- At the Ocean Cafe -**

Lyla walked through the doors, immediately greeted by Jason with a hug and a kiss. Jason was Lyla's boyfriend of 8 months, 2 years older than her, and a science teacher in training at her old school. He wasn't actually a teacher yet, he was still on a course to become one. He had dark brown hair, the fringe swept to the right of his face, the rest of his fine hair falling down to around the back of his neck. His eyes were a light hazel colour and his left eye in particular had a long scar running over it from when a dissection went a little wrong. During the same incident, the same eye was pierced by a small knife, and needless to say, it didn't look pretty. Jason refused to have any kind of operation or removal done, so he just kept that eye shut all the time.

He sat her down at a nearby table, Carly bringing them their drinks that Jason ordered before she arrived.

"Mm, Watermelon and Lime Frappé, my favourite," Lyla cheered, taking a big sip of it through the straw. "Now just how did you know that it was my favourite flavour of all?"

"It's pretty obvious really," Jason replied. "I mean you and your sisters are always drinking it whenever you come here so I just assumed you must all really like it."

Lyla thought on that for a second, and turns out, he was right. "I guess we do always drink it," she admitted, letting out a small giggle at the end. "So what did you call me out for anyway?"

"I want to ask you out, on a very special date," he began to say, taking hold of Lyla's hands. "There's a really posh restaurant on the edge of town that I'd really like to take you to. It's been a while since we've done something special together, so I thought this was a good idea."

Lyla let out a small gasp when he mentioned posh restaurant. She never got to go out to fancy places and eat exquisite food. "It sounds lovely. What day and time?"

"I was hoping for tonight," Jason replied, Lyla's face dropping a little. As much as she wanted to go, they'd finally gotten their trip to Mako Island all sorted, with all of them agreeing to go together. Jason immediately noticed her facial expression, eventually realising why she might have seemed a little sad. "Did you, Nixie and Sirena have another one of your trips set up for tonight therefore?"

Lyla just nodded her head, refusing to look Jason in the eyes. He grabbed her face and turned it towards him. "If you and your sisters have something planned then I'll just re-book it for tomorrow. I know it's tough to split you guys up, you're almost inseparable if you've planned a trip." Lyla suddenly cheered up hearing this. She was getting to go to Mako Island and go out to a fancy restaurant with her boyfriend the next night. It seemed all too perfect.

"Where are you guys going then?" Jason questioned.

"Nowhere special," Lyla replied.

Jason let out a small huff. "Of course you're not going to tell me. You never tell me because you think I'll follow you, am I right?"

Lyla began to blush a little. "It's not like that at all! It's just- we always keep it a secret so no-one can disrupt us on purpose. I'll tell you where I went _after _I go there tonight. Sound fair?"

"Yeah, it sounds fair," Jason replied, brining Lyla's face closer to his for another cheeky kiss. "Well that's all I wanted to say to you, and order you a drink of course."

"Jason, thank you so much, for being understanding and being able to rearrange for tomorrow, you have no idea how much I appreciate it," Lyla stated as she stood up, grabbing her drink. She walked round to Jason and gave him a peck on the cheek, then left to go back and help with the final checks.

Just after she'd left, Evie came through, the other person Jason was hoping to run into today.

"Evie," Jason called, grabbing her attention. Evie immediately headed in his direction, taking residence in the seat where Lyla was sat.

"What do you need from me this time?" Evie asked, letting out a small sigh at the end. The two of them could never talk without Jason asking for a favour.

"I'm pretty sure you know what's coming up next," he said, giving his head a quick scratch. "Are you going out on any dives near Mako Island any time soon?"

"Why?" Evie asked, rather suspicious of why he would ask about something like that.

"Well," he began. "I sort of accidentally left behind the camera that had all the important images of mum's recent exploration on the Island, and I really don't want her to find out that I forgot something again. Do you think if you go on a dive sometime soon near there, you could get the camera from the South Shore?"

Evie crossed her arms, thinking on it a for a moment. "You are one lucky man, I'm going out on one later this evening around that area."

Jason let out a long sigh of relief, and then looked up to Evie with puppy dog eyes. "So will you get the camera back for me?"

As much as she wanted to say no to teach him a lesson, she couldn't say no to such a good friend. "Okay fine, I'll get the camera for you."

"Yes!" Jason cheered. "Thank you so much Evie! I'll find a good way to repay you for this!"

"Mmm hmm, and it'd better be good at that," she warned him. In previous times, he wasn't exactly known for being fair in deals like this.

With that conversation over with, Jason headed outside to call the restaurant and rearrange his date with Lyla for tomorrow night instead.

After he left, a fairly tall boy with fluffy slightly dark chocolate coloured hair and a pair of piercing eyes the same colour to match walked in, Evie rising up out of her seat and running into his arms to greet him.

"Zac," Evie greeted. "It's been too long since I last saw you."

"Yeah, sorry that it's been so long. I meant to come here last week to try and see you but I got caught up in some stuff," he replied, and it was the honest truth for once.

She seated him at the table where she was once sat and ordered a couple of drinks for her and Zac along with some prawns, Zac's favourite odd snack. Within seconds of the prawns being put down, he immediately dug into them, disposing of them very quickly. It received him a weird look from Evie, but not as weird as the faces he was first given when they met.

"I will never understand your addiction to prawns," Evie said as Zac wiped his mouth, having polished off the bowl.

"Can't help it," Zac replied truthfully.

"So why did you come here today anyway?" Evie asked. "You didn't call to arrange or anything. Just a... surprise visit?"

"You could say that," Zac replied, resting his head on his hand. "I just came here on a whim, taking a break for tonight."

Evie suddenly remember what night it was tonight. "Oh yeah, tonight's a full moon, your family get-together meal night."

"Yup, the full moon Blakely family meal, about the only time we ever get to celebrate and see the family all at once," Zac replied rather distantly, his mind a little focused on something else.

"It must be awkward being the son of the biggest and most hidden Media company in Australia," Evie pointed out.

"Meh," Zac replied. "It is a little, but nights like this are really special to us."

Evie couldn't help but smile at him. He was always so bright and cheery even though his family life was really complicated, meaning he usually never got time to come out and see her.

"How come you meet up on a full moon? Is there something special about it?" Evie questioned.

"You could say there is," Zac replied, trying to be careful about what he said next. "I guess... it's just a time when most of us aren't busy with work. It's odd, but it works for us so we stick with it."

Evie shrugged her shoulders slightly and replied, "fair enough." She then remembered about her promise to Jason. "Listen Zac. I know you have to prepare for tonight, but would you consider coming out on a dive to Mako Island with me in a while?"

A lot like Lyla when Jason asked her about going out for a meal, his face dropped, and almost became filled with worry. "I'm sorry but, I don't do dives. You know that."

It was worth a shot. "Well I don't really know at all. Whenever I ask you out on one, you always say no. Do you have some kind of fear of water, or a bad diving experience in the past?"

"Nope," Zac replied a little sharply. "Diving just doesn't interest me. But I do love hearing your stories about all the different sea life you see." That made Evie brighten up a little after his slightly harsh response. "Where are you diving later then?"

"Mako Island," Evie replied, Zac's face dropping a little once more. Evie let out a small sigh. "What's wrong now?"

"What? Nothing. Nothing is wrong just..." Zac stuttered. "I've heard that- Mako Island is a little strange on a full moon."

Evie shook her head slightly. "I'm sure everything will be fine. I've been there on full moons before and nothing ever bad had happened."

Zac's face actually seemed a little shocked. "Seriously? You've seen nothing weird?"

"Where are you going with this Zac?" Evie asked back, getting just a wee bit tired of him being cryptic.

"Nowhere. It's just stories that I've heard. But like you said, if you've seen nothing then everything will be fine," Zac replied, regaining his confident demeanour. He glanced down at his watch, realising he would have to leave to begin on preparations. "I've got to go."

Evie leaned over and gave him a kiss, bidding him goodbye as he stood up and left. As soon as he did, Carly asked one of the girls on duty to watch over the bar for a little while, as she came and sat down with Evie.

"So, I see fish-boy came back to see you," Carly began.

Evie let out a small giggle. "Why do you always call my boyfriend fish-boy?"

"Because every time he comes hear, he eats nothing but prawns, tuna and lobster. Come on, you can't tell me that is not fishy," Carly replied.

"I see your point," Evie admitted. She did find her lover's eating habits a little odd but she didn't mind. "Did you hear what's happening with Jason?"

"Yeah, you gotta go retrieve a camera, yet again," Carly replied. She had to make this next point. "Why do you always help him anyway when half the time he doesn't thank you or doesn't give you a reward?"

"Because-" Evie began, having to stop herself to think of something. "Because he's just a goofball sometimes. On his own, he'd be completely screwed over and over, and for some reason, I can't help but help him get himself out of tight spots."

Carly let out a huff. "Evie you are too kind for your own good sometimes, especially with Jason," Carly pointed out. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow since you've gotta go prepare a dive and find a camera."

Evie stood up and gave Carly a good bye hug. "You have no idea how tempted I am to just leave it and not get his camera."

"Do it, he could do with being taught a lesson," Carly reminded her as she went back to her work behind the bar. Evie headed out the door and began taking the walk back home to get her diving gear ready.

* * *

**\- Out on the beach - **

Instead of heading for the town or residential areas, Zac had instead come straight down to the beach. Checking that no one was around to watch him, he dove into the clear blue water, his clothes melting away and his legs replaced by a long elegant blue tail. You see, Zac isn't who he's believed to be. To all humans, he is Zac Blakely, mystery son of the Blakely Media Corporation, the biggest unknown business in that industry. But to those of the Ocean, he is just Zac, a merman born from Mako Island.

As he began making a B-line back to Mako, he was joined by a friend of his.

"Zac, you up for a race?" The man called.

Zac smirked back at him. "Game on Cam!"

"First one to enter the Moon Pool wins!" He shouted, as both of them kicked off, torpedoing through the water.

Cam was one of Zac's greatest friends, knowing him since he was 5 years old. Cam too was a merman, with the exact same tail, but his fin had a chunk missing from the left side of it from where he'd gotten into a fight with a shark. His hair was fairly short, fluffy blonde and slightly curly in some places. His eyes were almost as blue as the Ocean itself, and he had one of the cheekiest grins you ever seen to top it all off.

Within the space of 6 minutes, they'd already made it Mako Island, and headed straight for the Moon Pool entrance. Zac was the first to surface, letting out a small victory cry, Cam appearing all but a couple of seconds later, annoyed that he'd lost. Zac turned around to see his face and slung an arm over his shoulder.

"Oh, do I need to go make up for the loss now do I?" Zac asked, Cam trying his best to look away, but Zac's arm had reached round and was stopping him from turning his face away.

"I think so," Cam replied, eventually getting Zac to move his arm. "How does a swordfish sound?" Cam's ears perked up, and so did his face, when Zac mentioned swordfish. "I know it's your favourite," Zac cooed.

"Alright! Yes, swordfish would be lovely. Now go find some before I feel the need to whap you for being an annoying winner." Zac shook his head at Cam and dived back under the water, wondering how on earth he was going to find some swordfish. There was only one port of call, and that was David.

Zac headed round to the east shore of Mako Island, finding a slightly secluded area of rocks. Sitting on one of the rocks was yet another merman. This one had seriously curly hair, a slightly lighter brown colour than Zac's, and his eyes a strange shade that was inbetween brown and green, not easy to identify a specific colour for them.

"What do you need this time Zac?" David asked having sensed his presence.

As Zac opened his mouth, David turned around and interrupted him. "Let me guess... you and Cam and had a race, he lost, and now you need to find something to cheer him up."

Zac just smiled at David. He knew himself and Cam all too well. "Yeah, think you could help me find a good spot for swordfish?"

David leapt off of the rock and back into the water, surfacing near to Zac. He beckoned him to follow. "Come on then, there's a good spot not too far from here."

Zac grinned and dove under, following David. Within a few minutes, they'd reach the spot, Zac able to see a fairly decent sized group of swordfish, and something else. Looking towards the middle of the group, there was a fishing line with bait attached to the end of it.

"Humans," Zac said to himself, his body propelling him towards the line, curious about it. The next thing he knew, one swordfish came flying straight towards the bait, getting the hook caught in his mouth. As the line began to ascend, the fish going with it, Zac ripped the hook out of its mouth and used it to slit its neck, blood spilling out into the water.

"Thanks David!" Zac called as he swam back as fast as he could to meet Cam.

David just shook his head and looked back up at the line. It had been recast, fresh new bait placed on the end of it. Because he felt bad that Zac had just ripped it off like that, he grabbed another swordfish and jammed the hook into its mouth, the line then ascending back out of the water. As David looked at the bottom of the boat, he noticed the logo on the bottom of it. A silver hook with vines of kelp completely covering it. He'd only ever seen one boat with that symbol, and so he poked his head above the surface, his intuition being right about who's boat it was.

"Evie," David said, catching her attention.

"David?" Evie asked in shock. It had been a while since she'd seen him as well. "Did you- What happened with that first fish I caught? Did you see?"

David calmed her down a second. "I don't know," he lied. "By the time I saw you boat, you'd already got a line cast, so I thought I'd get you a swordfish, if that's what you were fishing for anyway."

Evie smiled down at him. "Thank you David." The two just stared at each other in awkward silence, David remembering how they first met.

_**\- Flash back - **_

_Back to the time when David was but eight years old, so we're talking ten years ago here. _

_Evie and her father were out fishing around Mako Island. They'd been on a dive earlier that morning, and decided to do some fishing in the afternoon._

_"Dad, when are we going to catch something? I'm getting bored," Evie moaned._

_Evie's father let out a small chuckle. "Have patience Evie, we'll catch something soon enough. Why don't you try that new bait we bought with us?"_

_She pulled her line up out of the water and opened up her dad's tackle box. She fished around until she found the compartment that had but one piece of bait in it. It looked like a little skip jack tuna and had been coated in a strange substance. Human's couldn't smell the odd scent on it, but fish were drawn to it like a moth is to a flame._

_Evie cast her line back into the water, and waited patiently for something to bite._

_Down below, David had just about grown bored of watching the lines in the water and was about to leave until his nostrils caught a whiff of the new bait that Evie had sent down. Even though his brain was telling him it was a bad idea, he couldn't resist the scent of the bait, to the point of drooling. With a firm flick of his tail, he powered himself towards the bait and clenched his teeth to it with a mighty chomp._

_He let out a small yelp as the hook got caught in his mouth and his teeth stuck in the bait. He tried to pull away but Evie was tugging back really hard._

_"Huh?" Her father said as she looked over at Evie struggling to keep her rod up straight. He took the rod off of her and began reeling in himself. Against the strength of a grown man, David had no chance of pulling away. _

_"God dammit, what the hell is on the end of this line?" Evie's father asked himself. With a rather mighty pull, David found himself flying upwards at an alarming speed, breaking the surface of the water and being tossed into the air, completely on display for the two in the boat._

_His eyes widened as the two humans stared back at him, their mouths almost dropping to the floor._

_"I don't believe this," Evie's father muttered, looking at the young merman above him. As David began his descent, he found himself falling into their boat. Evie's father quickly dropped the rod he was holding and prepared to catch him. Luckily, he just managed to catch David, saving him from injuring himself. _

_He lowered David down onto the floor of the boat, both him and Evie still star struck at the sight before them. _

_David propped himself up to see the two humans still staring at him, eyes mixed with curiosity and fear. _

_"Are you alright?" Evie's father eventually asked, the young merman nodding his head in response. Soon after he had though, he let out a yelp, his teeth finally unclasping themselves from the bait. He pointed to the inside of his mouth where the hook was lodged into the side of his throat. _

_Evie's father managed to remove the hook and bait from his mouth without causing any more pain, David giving that spot a quick rub._

_"Let's try this again. Now are you alright?" The young girl's father asked. David actually spoke this time with his response. "Yes."_

_He smiled down at David. "Good to hear. Sorry that the hook got caught in your mouth. We weren't expecting a merman to grab the bait really."_

_"It's not your fault, I'm the one who went for it," David replied. "It just- smelt so good."_

_"Well at least we know the bait works," Evie's father joked, him and David sharing a brief laugh. "Oh yeah, what's your name?"_

_"David." _

_"Nice to meet you David, I'm Elliot, and this is my little girl Evie." Elliot put his hand on Evie's shoulder, prompting her to respond. "Hello," she said meekly, not looking at David._

_"Don't worry, she's a little bit shy is all," Elliot explained. Something came to Elliot whilst looking at him. "You don't, happen to know of any good fishing spots do you? We haven't had a good catch all day, besides you."_

_It didn't take David very long to answer. "There's a spot not too far from here that usually has a lot of fish. I can lead you there if you like." He pulled himself to the edge of the boat and flipped himself back into the water, feeling instantly refreshed._

_"I'd be ever grateful if you would," Elliot replied, revving up the motor. David ducked under the water, just enough so that Elliot could still see him. He swam out and Elliot and Evie stayed behind. All but a few minutes later, they'd reached the spot. After casting their lines, they both instantly caught fish, and all but half an hour later, they'd gotten a good haul of fish._

_"Thank you so much David," Elliot said as his eyes glazed over the mass of fish in their boat, then turning his attention back around to David. "Listen, I don't know how we can repay you. After all, we don't really have much to offer."_

_"There is one thing you can do to to repay me," David began. "And that's keep a secret."_

_Elliot smiled as he cocked onto what David meant. "Oh trust me, your secret is safe with me and Evie. Wouldn't want our competition to find out about our secret weapon now would we?"_

_"Secret weapon?" David asked, feeling slightly confused. A few seconds later, the look in Elliot's eyes told him all he needed to know. "Oh no, who said anything about me helping you find fish again?"_

_"Nothing needed to be said," Elliot replied, kneeling down to meet David eye to eye. "If you want your secret to be kept safe, then you'll carry on leading us to the best fishing spots like a good little fishy."_

_David let out a huff, realising he didn't really have a choice. "Fine, but only because I can't say no in this situation."_

_Elliot began patting him on the head. "Well aren't you a kind one?"_

_Now David had had it. Leading him into a corner where he had no choice to agree to terms was one thing but patronising was taking it too far. He used his power to draw a spear of water out of the ocean and froze it into ice, rather close to Elliot's throat. He looked Elliot directly in the eyes, gleaming with hatred. "Now listen. I'll agree to helping you because I have no choice, but don't think you can treat me like a kid. If you don't keep up your end of the bargain, I can always kill you."_

_"Woah woah, easy David, I didn't mean anything bad by patting you on the head. I'm sorry," Elliot apologised as he backed away from the spear of ice. David then melted it back down into the water and turned his back._

_"We'll meet here again tomorrow and we can discuss what it is you want me to do in terms of finding you fishing spots." That was all he said to the two as he dove back under the water._

_Elliot never thought that he and his daughter would meet a merman on their fishing afternoon, but he now had a new weapon under his belt, the ultimate fish finder. He would shoot way ahead of the competition with him._

**_\- End Flash back -_**

After another four long years of David helping out Elliot and Evie, Elliot mysteriously vanished, no one able to find him. He was proclaimed dead, and Evie took over the business. As for living, she moved in with Carly. Her meetings with David had gone down after she shut down the business and set up her own diving shop in the Ocean Cafe instead. She still saw him from time to time when she had to find food for the Ocean Cafe if there was a sudden shortage. Other than this, their contact really was sparse.

"So what are you doing here anyway?" David asked.

"I just came out for a dive, and to retrieve my friends camera that he left behind," Evie replied, rolling her eyes when she spoke about the camera.

David just nodded in response and bid his farewells to her, diving back under the water to regroup with Zac and Cam.

Evie still couldn't believe it. 10 years ago, she met David, a mythological creature. Following on from her dad's death, she promised to keep his secret still. Pushing him out of her mind, she parked her boat on the south shore of Mako Island. After not too long of searching, she found Jason's camera and tossed it back into the boat. She then went about preparing herself for her dive.

Meanwhile, a little way off from the north shore of Mako Island, were Lyla, Nixie and Sirena in their new speed boat. Their mother had bought if for them as a well done for finishing school with excellent grades each. It was top of the range to boot, perfect to use for travelling to mysterious islands.

"How far are we now?" Nixie asked as she checked over their provisions, just making sure that they hadn't missed anything.

"Not too long," Lyla replied with a grin on her face. "It's in sight!"

Nixie shot around and joined her sisters at the front of the boat. Mako Island was indeed within viewing range, becoming more clear to see with every second that passed. Within the next few minutes, they arrived, anchoring to boat down. Because they were only going for one night, they decided to just bring food along with them instead of fishing like they normally would have.

* * *

**\- In the Moon Pool - **

David swam in to find that Cam had already devoured his make up reward, the bones lying behind him.

"Zac," David said, interrupting the conversation the two other mermen where having. "You do know that your girlfriend is out on a dive around here again don't you?"

"Yeah, she told me earlier when I saw her," Zac replied. "Thanks for the warning though."

"Don't you ever think that it might be easier just to tell her the truth instead of hiding from her all the time?" David asked.

"Oh yeah, wonderful idea. Tell her that I'm a mythical creature who can walk on land but can't touch water because I revert back to this," Zac replied sarcastically. Though he immediately apologised to David for that, since he had just helped him find food for Cam.

"I still don't understand your fascination with humans," Cam spoke up. "It was humans who revealed Mako Island to the word, destroying the veil. It was one human who fell into the Moon Pool and caused the entire of your pod to flee, and it was that one human who's the sole reason why we're stuck guarding this island, and after all that... you still want to socialise with them."

"I must admit, Cam does have a point," David said, Cam flashing him a grin of thanks.

"Even so, there's still just- something about them, and Evie in particular," Zac said distant minded, thinking about her.

"Ok, but how long can you keep this whole charade up anyway?" Cam asked. "How long can you keep on lying to her?"

"For as long as I have to," Zac replied. "I'll make sure she never finds out."

"Yeah you'd better. If she does find out, there's no telling who she'll tell," Cam pointed out. He pushed himself away from the ledge he was resting on and swam over to the exit. "Come on David, full moon patrol."

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow Zac," David said as he followed Cam out of the Moon Pool and began their usual patrol of the Island's perimeter.

* * *

**\- North side of the island - **

The girls had already set up camp, Nixie practically forcing Lyla to set up the tents after ditching them for Jason. They'd eaten their dinner and were already settled down in their tent. Whilst Nixie and Sirena were pretty fast asleep, Lyla laid there restless. When Nixie told her this morning that something didn't feel right about today, she was begin to feel it as well.

It was something about the Island, and Lyla was determined to find out what. She tried her best to crawl out of the tent without waking anyone up, and slipped on her shoes. Just as she was about to leave, she herd Sirena call her name.

"Lyla? Where are you going?" Sirena asked.

"Just going to do some exploring," she replied, seeing as there was no reason to hide that fact.

"Will you be okay by yourself?" Sirena questioned. "If something happens, we'll be asleep."

"Sirena I'll be fine. As I said earlier, we've all done weirder stuff," Lyla replied. Sirena felt pretty assured and just nodded in response. "I'll try not to wake you when I get back."

With that, Lyla began heading up the Island whilst Sirena settled back down to sleep.

* * *

**\- South side of the island - **

Evie had finished her dive and was currently digging into the swordfish that David had helped her catch. Once she finished it, she looked at her boat that she'd anchored down, and then looked back to the Island behind her. She'd been on Mako's shores plenty of times, but she'd never actually ventured any further. After disposing of the fish bones, she grabbed her jacket from the boat, and headed into the forest land.

* * *

**\- In the waters around the shore - **

So far for David and Cam, everything seemed alright. Well, it seemed that way for a while, but they both soon came across sights that meant trouble. Cam had patrolled the north shore, only to find a speed boat anchored down and three sets of footprints in the sand heading into the forest land, indicating three humans were on the Island. He immediately dove back under and headed straight for the Moon Pool.

David on the other hand has made his way round to the south shore, and was not all too shocked at first to see that Evie's boat was still anchored. He looked around but couldn't see a fishing line. He surfaced in front of the boat, only to find out that she wasn't there, but some of her stuff was. Looking out towards the shore though, he could see signs of where she'd have gone, right up towards the forest land. He too dove back under and headed straight back.

Back in the Moon Pool, Zac was resting as he usually would when it was a full moon. Only those who were born in the Moon Pool were allowed to bathe in the glorious light of the full moon, meaning David and Cam had to sleep outside of it every time there was one. He'd always lose himself deep in though, his thoughts this time heading back to what Cam said earlier about his views on humans.

A very long time ago, and I mean a very very long time ago, Mako Island was inhabited by a pod of mermaids simply knows as the Mako Island pod. The first set of mermaids that migrated to the Island created the veil, and it stopped all humans from seeing the Island. If they came close to it, fog would appear to roll, and boats would find themselves being turned around, back the way they came. No matter how many times they headed back into the fog, the result was always the same.

For many moons, the veil protected them and the sacred Moon Pool, ensuring peace for the pod that settled there.

Though their peace was short-lived.

Even though they could protect the island from pure humans, they couldn't protect it from humans born with mer-blood inside of them. And soon enough, the inevitable happened, a human with mer-blood ventured out into the open ocean, greeted by the rolling fog of the veil. Unlike previous times, the fog simply vanished, and Mako Island was revealed not just to the visitor, but to everyone. The veil was broken, and those many moons of peace were shattered.

Sadly, they never managed to find the human who broke the veil, and they didn't have enough power to repair it. They would need more moon rings than they had in their possession, as the number back when the veil was created was far greater than their current number.

In the same year that the veil was broken, Zac was born. No one quite knew how he came into existence, nor who his mother was. All they knew, is that he was now one of the rarest mermen in the entire ocean world, a merman of Mako Island. Nonetheless, the pod raised him like one of their own, and in doing so, he was tame. No one in their pod feared him, for they knew he was as kind hearted as the rest of the mermaids that he'd been brought up with.

Five years passed, and many human visitors came to the Island, seeking to explore it. The pod immediately tightened their security, and risked using a couple of their moon rings to allow some of the members to gain legs and patrol the Island, keeping away as many human as they possibly could.

On the night of a full moon, the Mako Island pod were greeted by two new faces, though not human. They were but mere young mermen. Cam and David, roughly around Zac's age. They came from an all merman pod known as the Moon Island pod, which is where the first ever Moon Pool to come into being. After it was taken over by a group of mermen, the Moon Pool ceased to exist and so the Mako Island Moon Pool was built as a replacement.

They both swam into Zac who was out on a morning swim, and even though their words were brief, Zac trusted them and brought them before the pod. The two young mermen explained that their pod were growing more and more ravenous, and actually came to warn the Mako Island pod about a war. Soon after their talk, the Moon Island pod invaded as Cam and David said they would. To say it was bloodshed was being generous. Almost all of the pod were wiped out, though both sides suffered major casualties. In the end, thanks to Zac's sudden new found powers, the Moon Island pod were finished off, only around 100 of the original 8000 odd mermaids surviving.

As the battle had gone on late into the night, the Moon Pool was unguarded, and if another pod invading and those consequences weren't bad enough, what they found when the re-entered the Moon Pool was worse. A human boy, floating lifeless on his back. As to how he'd gotten there, they had no idea.

That's right. The one time the Moon Pool was unguarded due to an attack was the one time when a human boy stumbled onto the Island and found the land entrance. They tried to kill the boy there and then, but their powers were completely drained, their bodies too weak. They took him to the shore, and waited for their powers to recover. Whilst they slept though, the boy woke up, and sadly, he left.

By the time the rest of the pod woke up, the boy had gone. There was now a human turned merman out somewhere in the world, and if anyone found out it was related to Mako Island, they were in serious trouble. They would never be able to find him, and the issue with that, is that the transformation comes in four stages. There's the first stage, the primary transformation into a merperson. The second and third are known as the two full moon phases. If the human is brought back into the Moon Pool that their powers originated from within two full moons of transforming, they will be transformed back to normal. The final stage is the night after their second full moon. If they don't successfully manage to transform back by then, they'll gain their powers forever, and they'll be un-removable.

After all the bloodshed and damage inflicted upon the pod, they decided they had no choice. They entrusted Zac with a moon ring, and told him only to use it if it's absolutely necessary.

His powers were still growing, and he would grow to be much stronger than any regular mermaid. He made a pact with the remaining mermaids. They would protect the pod from all humans and sea folk alike who would threaten their existence, in return for sparing Cam and David's lives. They had been so tempted to kill them, since some believed that they are the ones who brought on the attack, as their pod may have followed them. On top of protecting the Moon Pool, there came another order.

If for some reason, they failed and a human did enter the moon pool, they would be given the time of phases two and three to transform them back. If they didn't and the human passed through phase four, all three of them would face execution. The mermaid council would be keeping an eye for them for as long as they would live and protect Mako Island. The boys always treated it as a curse, and an unfair one at that.

Cam forever cursed the human who got him into this mess, and has despised humans ever since. David is half-half because of his encounter with Evie and Elliot. He doesn't see them as a threat, but doesn't wish to make great friends with them. Zac on the other hand wants to know everything about them, and even went so far as to use some of the moon ring's power to grant himself legs and explore land, creating a land based persona for himself.

On the day the pod left, Zac had hoped that they would manage to get enough Moon Rings to re-create the veil, but after a few years, that desire was washed away, replaced with a hunger for knowledge of the human world.

Just as he was finished with his thoughts, the light of full moon began to shine over him, Zac enjoying every moment of it with the water around him bubbling. He just felt warm inside, comforted, even enchanted by it yet he also felt graced by its presence. Tough his peace was soon broken by the sound of shifting rocks.

* * *

**\- In the Forest lands - **

Lyla had ended up going rather far away from camp, and ended up wondering around aimlessly, hoping she might find her way back. She decided to take a break, leaning against a rock wall. She looked up to the sky to see the Full Moon rising over the Island, just passing over her head. Seconds later, she felt the back of the rock wall vanish, hitting the ground with a mighty thud, letting out a cry of pain as well.

Not too far from where she was, Evie too, was lost. After hearing Lyla's cry, she decided to head in the direction of the noise.

Lyla sat herself up, giving her back a quick rub. What she saw though was amazing. The rock she was resting against now had an chunk missing out of it, almost like it was a door way. As far as she could see, it seemed like there was a tunnel in this rock formation, natural light flooding out of it. She slowly rose back up to her feet, and began walking slowly through the tunnel in amazement. She couldn't believe that something like this existed on the Island. How she only wished that Nixie and Sirena could be with her to see it. She did consider going to find them, but considering she was lost, she saw no point.

As she walked through the tunnel, it eventually came to an open circular area, a strange dial on the wall with a glowing symbol in the centre of it. For some reason, and she wasn't sure why, Lyla felt drawn to it, like something was calling to her. "Just what is that?"

Just as Lyla had reached the circular room, Evie had found the entrance, immediately stunned by the opening in the rock wall with natural light shining. After hearing a voice yet again, she wasted no time, and ran straight through the tunnel to see who else was there. Yes she was in shock seeing the tunnel, but she really wanted to know who else was on the Island.

Slowly but steadily, Lyla leant forward, her arm stretching out, her hand touching the strange symbol. When she did, it glowed brighter for a moment, and she began to hear noises, like rocks shifting.

"Lyla?" Evie asked with short breath as she ran into the circular room, immediately focusing on her.

"Evie?" Lyla asked back in shock. She was on the Island too?

Before they both knew it, the floor beneath them turned to jelly as their feet began sinking, their whole bodies eventually being pulled through, as they found themselves falling, both of them screaming as they did. Before they knew it, they'd hit water, both of them falling unconscious the second they broke through the water's surface.

Zac was in major shock for a few reasons. The first being that two human girls had just somehow fallen through the solid rock wall of the Volcano, into the water below. The second being that the moon was still overhead when they fell in. He made haste and pulled their bodies back up above the surface, in utter shock at one of the two. "Evie?" He asked himself, his breath taken away when he saw her face. This was bad, this was so bad that there was no way to describe it. Just as he was about to swim out with them tucked under his arms, someone popped up, blocking his exit.

"Well well, quite the predicament we have here," the person said.

Zac was failing to respond. It was a merman. One he'd never seen before. He knew there was himself, Cam and David, but he didn't know of anyone else. "Who are you?"

"Let's just say I'm someone that you know Zac," he responded. "You might not remember me, but trust me, we've met before." With those words, he dove under, not giving Zac a chance to respond.

"Wait!" Zac cried. So many feelings and thoughts were rushing through his body that it took him a minute to work out what he meant. But soon enough, he thought he'd twigged it. That merman, must have been the one who was the human boy who fell into the Moon Pool. Every other merman he knew was killed during their war, that was the only plausible explanation. He had other matters to worry about though than him, as he swam out of the exit and dropped the two girls off on the nearest piece of land he could find. He felt that he had no other choice. There was nothing he could do now about them. He would have to figure something out. He also didn't want to tell Cam and David, he would feel so bad if he they found out that he'd failed to protect the Moon Pool for a second time in his life.

Swimming back to the Moon Pool, he was greeted by Cam and David.

"What are you both doing here?" Zac asked them.

"We came to tell you some bad news," Cam began.

"There are humans on the Island tonight," David finished. "Nothing happened I presume? It's been a while since the moon passed over-head."

"No, everything was fine. I just decided to take a quick swim that was all," Zac said, covering the reason why he wasn't there.

"At least that explains why you weren't here when we came to tell you the news," Cam replied. "At least we know everything's fine, we can leave them be I guess."

Cam was the first to leave the Moon Pool and went back to go to sleep.

"Zac? Are you sure nothing happened?" David asked, sceptical of Zac's response as to why he wasn't here in the Moon Pool.

"Yeah, of course," Zac replied, trying to keep a straight face.

"If you say so," David muttered under his breath, swimming forward to put his hand on Zac's left shoulder, glaring directly at him. "Cam may be easy to slip by, but I'm not so foolish. Don't think I didn't see those two passed out on the beach."

Zac was back into a state of shock, unable to look David in the face. "Just, don't tell Cam?"

"If you can explain to me what happened last night tomorrow, then I might keep quiet." With those final words, David left Zac with his thoughts.

Zac didn't think too hard about where he left the girls, and the spot where he did, was right where David's next patrol was after the full moon passes overhead. Hopefully David would be understanding of what happened, and wouldn't tell Cam. All he could do was try to fall back to sleep, and hope that he would be able to sort this out in the morning.

* * *

**Aegis: OH MAH GURD LONGEST OPENING CHAPTER EVER FOR ME!**

**By god... there was so much to write for this story because of how much is going to happen. This story sits on a bigger scale than the In Trouble stories do. Naturally, this one is also going to take a lot longer to complete due to it and its vast complexity. Now, those who read In Trouble, the first one, will notice some lore from it appearing in the later chapters, so enjoy when the time comes ^_^**

**Mimmi: We hope everyone enjoyed reading this chapter and is looking forward to the second one.**

**Evie: Mimmi what are you doing here? You're not coming in until the later chapters!**

**Aegis: Evie is right, you'll get your time to sit here once you come into play with the story.**

**I don't know exactly when chapter 2 will be out due to my new lifestyle, but I hope you all enjoy what I've given you so far! Take care!**


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